4.4 Social aspects - profile of the communities

4.2 Understanding the historical context of the areas

For a better understanding of the dynamics of the two target areas, a brief history of the occupation and transformation of the areas over time is presented.

About Vale do Pinhão

The process of urbanization of the space where the Rebouças neighbourhood is currently located began in the 1880s, and is connected to the building of the railroad linking Curitiba to the port municipality of Paranaguá.

The transport facilities resulting from the proximity to the train station attracted several industries to the neighbourhood at the beginning of the 20th century. Through this process, this space became the city’s industrial sector, a characteristic that remained for several decades and was formalized by Alfred Agache’s Urban Plan in 1943.

The relationship with industrialization in the development process of the Rebouças neighbourhood also influenced the characteristics of its occupation. As evidenced by the Bulletin of Casa Romário Martins (2000), at the beginning of the 20th century, the neighbourhood was composed of a popular class engaged in “urban professions”, working as railway employees or in the traditional centre.

The industrialization process that marked the Rebouças neighbourhood in the 19th and 20th centuries left its constructive characteristic, which marks the neighbourhood’s landscape to the present day.

About Vila Torres

Vila Torres, called Vila Pinto until 1995, is in the Regional da Matriz, covering the Jardim Botânico and Prado Velho districts, 2.5 km from the city centre. The spontaneous occupation of the area along the banks of the River Belém began in the 1970s.

Villa Torres comprised 199,400 square metres of homes without title deeds. The municipality had to buy private land to regularize the situation. So, in 1989 COHAB2 put order to the city’s anarchic landownership by approving a plan to allot land and issuing public deeds of purchase and sale.

In 2011, Vila Torres was included in the Urbanization, Regularization and Integration of Precarious Settlements Programme. The programme aims to identify precarious settlements, unhealthy conditions, unsafe housing and provide improvements. The progamme also looks to improve urban infrastructure and resettle people in units of the Minha Casa Minha Vida Programme - PMCMV and Social Work. In the last 20 years, Vila Torres has received major investments and infrastructure works. City Hall has requalified Avenida das Torres, thereby providing easy access to the city.

4.3 Land use characterization

Vale do Pinhão is a zone established under the Land Use Law for the city, and it allows for a mix of residential, business and commercial uses. The city also greatly favours the establishment of startup companies and technological business. On the other hand, Vila Torres is a small portion of a mixed-use zone, comprising mainly residential use and small business (see figure 11).

Figure 11: Land-use characteristics Figure 12: Hydrography and green areas

4.4 Environmental aspects

Vale do Pinhão is an area of the city which has been occupied since the 1800s, so it is very urban and not many of its natural aspects remain. A small part of its natural forest cover can be found on private properties and parts of the rivers that run through the area are still visible. There is a good network of streets, with trees and small public squares in the area.

Vila Torres is partially bounded by the Belém River, one of the main rivers in Curitiba and some 17 km long. As Vila Torres is a small area of high-density population, there is little natural forest cover or a good street network. Figure 12 shows the hydrography and green areas in the area.

4.5 Social aspects - profile of the communities

The characterization of the social and economic challenges in the area of influence, as well as the details of the Vale do Pinhão and Vila Torres sections, were broken down into the following items: i) community profile; ii) equity challenges; iii) education and youth; and iv) economy. Figure below shows the density in the influence area. Even though Curitiba’s population a growth grew from 2010 to 2020, there was a population decrease in all the influence area, as can be seen in detail in Table 3.